Kasumi Akiyama
Kasumi Akiyama (秋 山 ミスト, Akiyama Kasumi) is a ninja that originated from Iwagakure. She is the youngest member of Akatsuki, and was partnered with Sasori, and Deidara, consecutively before their deaths, and is now partnered with Tobi. She's an original character created by ~Love-Inspired of DeviantART . Background Kasumi was a resident of Iwagakure up until the time she was six years old. During this time she was praised by her parents, Isamu and Hotaru; as well as her other clansmen for her outstanding progress - being almost at chūnin level before entering the academy, and being chūnin level when she graduated. Her clan was renowned as very powerful because of a rare kekkei genkei that trailed through specific and worthy female generations; and very few male generations. The clan also had come up with many useful jutsus of their own. One being the 'Dragon Seal' where the shinobi could physically seal a blade or weapon of choice to whichever arm it was wielded; giving them the ability to switch between their hand and weapon in seconds, reducing the gap of unsheething a weapon which could cause serious problems. Therefore, the Akiyama clan was a wise choice to make up most of the tight security around Iwa, and act closely with the Third Tsuchikage as most were well-trained shinobi. She was able to train under her father to learn the Dragon Seal as well as Ōnoki for a short period of time, where she'd met Deidara who also studied under the Third. After so long, the villagers of Iwagakure learned to fear the Akiyama clan, even though they had been so helpful and protected the village. The thought that the host would turn on them and destroy the village always haunted them. The Tsuchikage ordered them to annihilate every member of the clan, thereby destroying the bloodline trait inevitably. During that time, only the members of the Akiyama knew who the true host was - Kasumi. She had been at home, playing outside with Deidara and Ookami when the attack occured. This made young Kasumi panic, running inside to see from the door her slaughtered father, and her mother attempting to heal her own major wounds. This is when she sealed her hand to her father's blade to her hand to attempt protection of her fatally wounded mother. Ookami who was nine, grabbed her from the doorway before she was spotted; carrying her over his shoulder as he followed Deidara to the edge of the village to hide. Deidara eventually suggested for them to flee, since they would been thought of dead anyway, they would not be hunted down. For the most part afterwards, life was hard for the pair. They lived in the desolate areas around Konohagakure until a Jōnin - Mizushima Kaito - discovered them living by themselves. He worried for the children, and took them under his wing up until his death, the same day Kasumi was blinded permanently; Only Kakashi (sixteen at the time) knew of their whereabouts and existance. He found them two days later; taking all responsibility for the village's saftey and security if the two ever abandoned them. Kasumi undoubtedly abandoned the leaf at seventeen, but not for selfish reasons. She'd promised a close friend that she would one day bring Itachi back to her, even if it cost her her life. She went in search of Akatsuki, eventually being stumbled upon by Sasori, and Deidara who were returning from infiltrating Sunagakure. After fighting off the defensive Sasori - who'd thought of her as "just a brat"- and Deidara, while simultaneously explaining who she was; Deidara had come to recognize who she was after eleven years. He too began to explain to Sasori of her background, and that she could be a worthy addition to Akatsuki, since Orochimaru had left. Personality Kasumi is a naturally quiet and composed woman, but is quick to flare her temper and overreact to simple things, such as minor annoyances. She is not one to always partake in an unecessary fight, but would do so if provoked or angered into the situation. Being the host presents her normal personality in the first years of her life, becoming sadistic, crude, arrogant and self oriented, vicious and cold hearted; but this is usually mixed in subtly and gradually. She does show signs of being a happy person, especially around Deidara; whom she is very fond for. Only letting this side of her show when she is with people she trusts and knows well, she can be obnoxiously funny, kind and caring. She often referred to Deidara with a shortened version of his name (デイ, Dei), showing her close connections with the elder. With Sasori, she would unmistakebly refer to him as Master Sasori (サソリの旦那, Sasori no Danna) because of her utmost respect for the man. She held respect for both his and Sasori's art, often ignoring their squabbles until it got unbearable, to which she'd intervene. As with Deidara, she had no problem admitting Sasori was stronger than her; but often found herself teasing Deidara that she was stronger, even though they are both evenly matched. However, when Sasori was killed and replaced with Tobi; she found herself quite often irritated by his and Deidara's fighting, ending up in hitting the two over the head in frustration. Kasumi often called Tobi a hyperactive idiot (非常に活発にばか, Hijō ni kappatsu ni baka). However, she knew his facade as Tobi was a cover up to his true identity as Madara Uchiha. She holds a grudge against him, because of his plan to manipulate Sasuke further into killing Itachi. Appearance Kasumi has slanted, colorless eyes with long black hair styled into choppy uneven layers and a choppy side-swept bang that covers her left eye. Before becoming blind, her eyes were a soft green color that resembled her mother's own eye color. However, being blind has its advantages for her; for occular genjutsu such as the Sharingan and many other genjutsu, have no effect since she cannot see them. She wears the traditional Akatsuki cloak and underneath is the given attire, consisting of a short, blue, square neck-lined shirt that comes just below her breast line, a sleevless mesh shirt, and baggy blue pants held up with a white belt. Around her neck is her forehead protector, with the stone village symbol slashed, showing she rescinded her allegiance and rejected her villages. On her arms she wears dark blue protective sleeves, (the right is interlaced with millions of microscopic bits of metal), which aid in the reinforcement of her arms. The right sleeve is absorbed into use when she uses her Dragon Seal. On her right ring finger is the Akatsuki ring, which bores ''Demon (鬼'', akuma). She wears dark purple, almost black nail polish on her fingers and toes. Abilities Kasumi is a very intelligent and keen shinobi, often calculating many moves ahead (although not nearly as many as Shikamaru) and not often being fooled. She is a strong close-range fighter; having high taijutsu skills and swordsmanship along with exceptional ninjutsu to back her up; this made her the perfect partner for Deidara, who was a long-range fighter. Enhanced Senses Hearing Since the loss of her vision, Kasumi has become well adept to using all of her other senses in battle and for everyday tasks. One of her most notable hearing traits, however, is her ability to recognize a voice and distinguish a person without having ever met them. By hearing a person from any given clan, she can pick up and recognize similar frequencies between clansmen; being able to determine the voice and can at least note which clan they are from. In Madara's case, she had spoken to both Itachi and Sasuke previously before, and recognized the similar frequency notable of the Uchiha clan. Knowing that the whole clan excluding Sasuke and Itachi were deceased and the rumor of Madara being alive, she connected these facts together and figured that Tobi is indeed Uchiha Madara. She has also been known to hear the slightest tone pitch in a person's voice distinguishing truth from ruse. Smell Like Kiba, Kasumi has learned to strengthen her sense of smell significantly by concentrating her chakra in her nose; making her an exceptional tracker - which lead her to Akatsuki using Itachi's scent. She also distinguishes her friends from foes by their scents, and is not easily fooled by impersonation clones for this reason. Although it may not be as strong as Kiba's, it is still quite useful for those around her. She has been known to be able to tell how much chakra one has in reserve just by the smell of their pharamones. Sight Even though she is deemed blind, she can still see to some degree. Forcing chakra to her feet allows her to pick up vibrations in the earth up to a 5 km radius (being strongest within 1.5 km), allowing her to form a picture of these vibrations (like echolocation) in her mind - which appears to be black with white lining. However she cannot see detail, only the outermost outline of whatever the vibrations are emitted from. Body Structure: Right Arm After fusing her katana to her right arm, the entirety of the bones that make up her arm are composed of a highly dense iron/chromium metalloid. The many bones of her arm and hand is what makes up her blade, and any other metal on her arm (rings, jewellery, etc.) is absorbed into the composition of her blade. After the Kazekage Rescue Arc, she is seen sporting almost full arm braces, the right of which is interlaced with an assortment of metals to strengthen her blade. Stats Part II Kazekage Rescue Arc After abandoning the Leaf, Kasumi tracked Itachi's scent; traces of which were found in many places. This confused her, but after following the strongest scent for days, she stumbled upon Deidara and Sasori who had Gaara with them in tow. She confronted them calmly, asserting who she was; but still ended up in a quarrel with the bomber and puppet master. She held off most of their attacks, whilst explaining who she was and who her clan was hoping that they would hear her out. The mention of her clan caused Deidara to remember whom she was and stopped attacking her, persuading Sasori to do the same so that he could also explain who she was and her background. Even Sasori had become interested in who she was, noting rememberance of the Stone's Akiyama clan and their jutsu. When they had all convened, Kasumi had to thoroughly prove herself to Pein that she would not let anything slip and that she would be a worthy addition to Akatsuki. She kept silent during the extraction of Gaara's Ichibi, even though she knew it would upset another of her friends; Hidenka. Three-Tails Arc Deidara, Tobi and Kasumi's next mission was to capture the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle. Along the way, they took a break at a nearby dango shop. Deidara and Kasumi showed an interest in what Tobi looked like behind his mask when he began to remove it to eat, only for them to be tricked by Tobi to look away for a moment. After a short fight between Deidara and Tobi, due to Tobi's antics, they split up to seek out the beast. Itachi Pursuit Arc After sealing the Four-Tailed Monkey, they were informed that Naruto and an eight man squad were in search of Itachi and Sasuke. After Deidara's open statement of his grudge against Naruto for punching him and disrespecting his art, Kasumi mentioned that she knew Naruto and that he can be indeed a formidable opponent, and should not be taken lightly as well as the with other eight. They were also told of former Akatsuki member, Orochimaru's death. Knowing Deidara had wanted to kill Orochimaru himself, she was not surprised that Deidara wanted to search and fight his killer; Sasuke Uchiha. Deidara, Tobi and her sought off to find Sasuke. When they finally found him, he asked Kasumi not to involve herself; but allowed Tobi to assist him with the assault against Sasuke. As Kasumi watched from the trees -now joined by Tobi-, she noticed Deidara's increasing anger and was hoping that it would not end as badly as she assumed it could. Being unaffected by Sasuke's genjutsu the entire time, she understood why he was so frustrated; remembering his hatred towards Itachi and the Sharingan. Knowing his chakra was low and was enraged by Sasuke's uncaring attitude, she attempted to leap from the tree; being held back by Tobi who told her to stay put. She cursed at his sudden serious attitude, but kept her place. They continued to on look the situation, until Deidara used his C0 which then Tobi pulled Kasumi into his Space Time Migration to escape the blast. She was devestated with this outcome, as she'd noticed for a fraction of a second before teleporting, a summoned creature (Manda) which had protected Sasuke from the blast. This enraged her and she's held a grudge against Sasuke since this time. Tobi and her were then later deployed to intervene the eight man squad from reaching Sasuke and Itachi. They soon spotted Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and a new member (Sai), preventing them from getting to their destination. Kakashi though, recognized Kasumi and was baffled; Kasumi only smirking at his reaction asking simply if he'd missed her. Naruto yelled at her for being disrespectful to someone she didn't know, until she explained to them how he was her sensei for seven years before he had to move onto Team 7. Extremely confused, both Naruto and Sakura asked if this was indeed true. He solemnly nodded, which angered Naruto further asking her why she abandoned the Leaf when she had so many friends back home. She replied to him saying that it was personal and none of his business. Wanting to end things quickly, she threatened the group with Kagutsuchi: Living Nightmare (カグツチ・現存　悪夢, Kagutsuchi: Genson Akumu), but still continued to ask the group trivial questions about the Leaf and her cousin, to which they would not answer. Together, Tobi and her distracted the group for a prolonged period of time. Slowly there afterwards, she watched each member be killed off one by one, until Madara assumed his position as leader. Confining the Jinchūriki Arc Kasumi stayed allied with Akatsuki, even after Team Hawk's alliance and the alliance with Kabuto. By Madara's side, she witnessed Kabuto perform Summoning: Impure World Resurrection as a means to prove his power to Madara. She became severely displeased at the revival of Deidara, Sasori and Itachi, but held her tongue since Madara had much more power over her at the time. Shinobi World War Arc Even though Kasumi is a skilled fighter, and an active member of Akatsuki; she is seen as a stationary unit, standing by with Madara at all times - as this was his order to her. Even so, she is seen questioning Madara of why he is letting Kabuto run the war and make all the moves. He reassures her that he is in total control and still has power over Kabuto's actions. Trivia *As with Deidara, Kasumi was always curious as to what Tobi looked like behind his mask. Almost choking on her dango during the Three Tails Arc when he began to remove his mask. *Kasumi is born on Winter Solstice. *Kasumi advanced to chūnin level within Konoha, but obtained her genin rank in Iwa, which is why she keeps her Iwagakure forehead protector. *According to the 3rd Databook: **Kasumi has completed 81 official missions in total: 15 D-Rank, 22 C-Rank, 31 B-Rank, 10 A-Rank and 3 S-Rank. **Kasumi's hobby is to sing, but only to herself. They were usually soft lullabys that she remembered from her childhood. **Kasumi wishes to fight Madara Uchiha. **Kasumi's favorite food is chawanmushi (a custard flavored with soy sauce, dashi, and mirin, with numerous other ingredients) and sweets. **Kasumi's least favorite food is fish. *Kasumi can be found reading the Icha Icha Series, a bad habit she picked up from Kakashi. *Before her clan name is revealed, she goes by "Iwa Kasumi". *Kasumi is quite forgetful, despite her high intelligence. *Kasumi is ambidextrous; having to learn to use her left hand for most of her training since her right arm is preoccupied. This means she can perform most of her ninjutsu seals with only one hand. Quotes *To Madara: "You; Will die a most painful death. Give me that pleasure." *To Zetsu: "You breathe a word of this to Madara, and I will spill all of Akatsuki's secrets. Madara knows he cannot kill me. He dare not kill off one of the most elite clans known to Iwa when he could use it to his advantage." *To Deidara: "Deidara, you are the most important thing in the world to me. I never want to lose you, don't you ever leave me." *To Sakura and Naruto (While using Kagutsuchi: Living Nightmare) : "Have you ever wondered what it felt like to burn to death? Ever wondered what it would feel like to be burned to death by an inflamed person? Let's just say... they're both excruciatingly painful; just the way I like it." *To Kimiko (as a child): "Let's be friends, okay? And even if we get separated, I promise to meet up with you again!" *To Kakashi and Tomoko (while training): "No! I'm not ready to give up yet! I'll learn this technique even if it's the last thing I do!"